Lost and forgotten streets of Manchester .... nu 64 Little David Street, a lost canal a cafe and a plan

Now I doubt that anyone takes a picture of Little David Street.

Little David Street, 2016

It's off Chorlton Street, is very narrow and is closed off by a big gate.

It doesn't seem to have excited any interest and I have yet to find anyone who took a picture so in there interest s of history I did.

Little David Street runs besides that building on the extreme right with the very impressive arch way which around 1972 into 1973 was the library for the old College of Commerce and as such was a place I knew well.

Little David Street, 1849

A century and half before that Little David Street was fronted on its east side by a row of fourteen back to back houses and ran parallel with Back Canal Street.

And both gave access from Chorlton Street to a branch of the Rochdale Canal which stretched from the main canal almost down to what is now Whitworth Street.

The route of this arm of the canal is now underneath the car park and tower block of the Aytoun Street Building and explains why the back of the Minton & Turner warehouse and the one next door open out onto nothing more than an open space.

The canal with the arm off to the left 1955

I can’t say that during my three years in the Aytoun Street Building or as it was then the College of Commerce I knew that under me was that lost bit of canal.

I was there from 1969 to 72 and while some called it Colcom we were happier with the College of Knowledge.  The irony is that part of what I was studying was both Manchester and the Industrial Revolution but that fact that a bit of sat on my doorstep passed me by.

Looking back we could perhaps have been a bit critical of the course which failed to point any of that out but
I suppose back then the landscape was still dominated by so much from the Industrial Revolution it was all just taken for granted.

In time I will go looking for the inhabitants of Little David Street.  They won’t feature on any street directory but they will be on the census returns, and the key will be the landlord of the Mechanics Arms which is there in the first picture and was offering up pints in the 1850s.

The Mechanics Arms and Cafe, Chorlton Street, 1959

So identify him and with a bit of trawling we will find the people of Little David Street.

In the meantime I can’t leave without reflecting on some of the other changes since I was in the College of Knowledge over 34 years ago.

Back then Canal Street was just a street linking Minishull Street with Princess Street, and it was a drab little road made only interesting if you liked canals.

Of course now it is the heart of the Village and part of its space is occupied by tChurchill's.

I remember that corner as the cafe.  I never went into it, pretty much took it for granted and had completely forgotten its existence until now.

And as I posted, Antony sent me this from the MEN, Developers'plans to transform 'Hidden city' city centre into new £150 m district.*

And a full six years later the plans to revamp our little street have come to fruition, hence the re-run of the story ..... proving that all stories are worth revisiting.**

 Location; Manchester

Pictures; Little David Street, 2016 from the collection of Andrew Simpson, British Waterways narrow boats, proceeding to Hassall's Warehouse, Ducie Street, leaving Chorlton Street Lock, 1955, m54248  Mechanic’s Arms, Chorlton Street, H W Beaumont, 1959,m49952, courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass and Little David Street, 1851 from Adshead’s map of Manchester 1851 courtesy of Digital Archives Association, http://digitalarchives.co.uk/

Tomorrow; Living in Little David Street

*Developers'plans to transform 'Hidden city' city centre into new £150 m district, MEN, Katie Butler, April 30, 2015  http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/manchester-city-centre-kampus-development-9149071 

**The secret cobbled street in the city centre brought back to life, Louisa Gregson, September 19th, Manchester Evening News, https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/secret-cobbled-street-city-centre-21595202

Bryan Barlow and his wonderful bookshop on Beech Road

There will be many like me who remember Bryan the Book with affection.

I got to know him during almost daily visits to his book shop on Beech Road.

It was an amazing place which was an Aladdin’s cave of second hand books which offered up everything from novels to history books, volumes on growing plants and back numbers of Punch, Picture Post and even Women’s Weekly.

Many of the books I bought from Bryan are still on our shelves and I continue to like the idea that shops like Bryan's allowed a book a second and even a third chance to be read, liked and treasured.

Some have even made their way via our lads to Sheffield, Leeds, and even Warsaw.

I always referred to the shop  as “Bryan the Book” while my friend David called him “Chorlton Man” and while there were many other sides to Bryan these two do help describe him and his contribution to the area and in particular Beech Road.

Picture;  Bryan’s Bookshop from the collection of Lawrence Beedle

Standing outside Charing Cross Railway Station in 1904 .......the one with the hotel

 This is one of those places instantly recognizable to anyone who lives south of the river.

And despite the fact that the image and the picture postcard were made at the beginning of the last century there is much that is still the same.

Of course, I am well aware that on the platform side there has been a huge transformation, but as I have never seen the new Embankment Place which sits above the platforms, and my memories of walking through the redesigned concourse are vague, I cannot comment.

But as an old duffer, I was saddened to read that most of the 1906 iron and glass roof above the platforms has gone, but looking at pictures of the concourse it seems cleaner than I remember it.

And it is nice to see the large clock beside the exit is still there, leaving me to hope someone will post pictures of the station as it is today.

The station dates from 1864, and the hotel from a year later.  

At its opening the hotel had 250 rooms spread out over 7 floors, and was so popular that an extension with 90 rooms was a added thirteen years later.

It is a place I have never visited, and a bit of me wishes I had.

The postcard was marketed by Tuck and Sons, with the note that it was from their Christmas and New Year catalogue of 1904/05 under the series titles of London Town and City and London View.

And yes I am well aware that many railway stations had a hotel.

Location; London

Picture; Charing Cross Railway Station, circa 1905, marketed by Tuck and Sons,, courtesy of Tuck DB, https://tuckdbpostcards.org/about

When the snow misery of Chorlton has competition

 Today we had snow.

The Rec, 2026

It snowed for 20 minutes. 

Meanwhile in Warsaw just 10 minutes ago it was still snowing after a week and in Barrie, in Ontario it has been coming down for weeks.

Warsaw, 2026

Barrie, 2026

Location; The Rec, Chorlton, Warsaw and Barrie

Pictures; Beech Road, form the collection of Andrew Simpson, Warsaw, courtesy of Saul Simpson, and  Barrie, by Lori Oschefski, 2026 

One camera ….. 1965 ….. and a collection of lost scenes

It is 61 years ago that this collection of images was taken.

"Clearance in Hulme", 1965

They cover Manchester, Stretford and out to Chorlton and Wythenshawe and are a mix of industrial scenes, some old historic buildings and more than a few of well-known city centre sites.

What they have in common was the year they were taken and that originally they were colour slides.

The collection was donated to me by the daughter of the photographer, but somewhere along the line their identity was lost, although I am still looking for the letter, email or Facebook message which alerted me to the names of the woman who donated them and the photographer.

"Old Shambles' 1965

I hope by posting them the donor will come forward and I can change the credit from the 1965 collection to a name.

The first two are both of lost Manchester.

I have no idea where in Hulme the clearance area was, and I only have vague memories of the old Shambles.

But they are a unique record of how the City was in 1965 and just how it was about to change.

Location; Manchester

Pictures, “Clearance in Hulme” and “The Old Shambles showing Wellington Inn and Sinclair’s Oyster Bar,” 1965, from the 1965 Collection

A parish magazine ..... a heap of parochial news ..... and Mr. Lascelles's superior wall tiles ...... Chorlton 1903

Now by chance and with the help of Ida Bradshaw, I am back in 1903, trawling the pages of the March edition of the St Clement’s Parish Magazine.

There will be those who mumble that it is a journey which yields little, but not so.

Contained in its 20 pages are a mix of parochial news, some uplifting stories, accounts of the early Christian Church, and advice for children, along with  biblical questions, a hymn for missionaries and a problem for Draught players.

All of which are fascinating, but a century and a bit on, it is the adverts littered through its pages that make the magazine, a time machine.

In all there are eleven, some advertising national branded goods, but most from local tradesmen, including the butcher R. A. Cooper at 25 Barlow Moor Road, specializing in "Corned Beef and Pickled Tongue", and promising “family orders promptly attended to” and William Mellor, Carting Contractor and Coal Merchant, from 1 Hardy  Avenue whose “Coal Delivered in Bags".

Added to these was Thomas Birrell who was a “Joiner and Builder and General Repairer of Property” with a workshop on the “The Green near the Old Church”, “Estimates given for Greenhouses”.

But the one which drew me in was Geo. E. Lascelles “Dealer in Fish, Game, Poultry, 34, Wilbraham Road, And At Hobson Hall Poultry Farm Egerton Road, Speciality; New Laid Eggs, Farm Fed Chickens, Ducklings, Turkeys, Guinea Fowls Best of Everything at Lowest Possible Prices”.

Now what makes Mr. Lascelles just that bit ahead of his fellow advertisers is that his shop has already featured in several stories recently.

No 34 will be known to many as the home of Shareen Fashions, which supplied school uniforms, and  much more at decent prices, by a family who were always most helpful.

And it was during the alterations by the new owners that I spotted some beautiful period tiles.

Given that they were of fish and poultry I assumed they were put there by Mr. Worthington Brice who was listed as a fishmonger at the property in 1909.

But now I am not so sure, given that George Lascelles was doing the business with fish, chickens, ducklings, and much more six years earlier.

All of which may seem a very nerdy preoccupation, and I have to concede it is, but in the process it all adds to the story of where we live.

Location; Chorlton

Pictures; extracts from the St Clement’s Parish Magazine, March 1st, 1903, courtesy of Ida Bradshaw, and poultry tiles, 2019, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

When you could buy two nails and a key from Skillman & Sons on Woolwich High Street in the spring of 1977

Now when I was last on Woolwich High Street number 108 was an empty shop, and despite a coat of black paint the front still displayed the name of Skillman & Sons, which was where my friend Jean “always went ...... as they had all sorts of nails and things not found anywhere else.”

But it is yet another testament to the slow demise of the small trader that Skillman & Sons no longer sell their nails, or screws and instead if you want something to hold up a shelf or fasten a picture to the wall it is a trip to one of those big DIY stores where nails, screws and even fuses have to be bought in packets.

Our own J.J.Johhny in the village would happily sell you one of anything and with a cavalier approach to pricing might charge you a different sum every time you went in.  But I was always confident that in the long run it would always even itself out and so the day you paid 10p would like as not be 6p the next time.

And of course before Johnny’s, there was the old hardware store on Beech Road which retained its bare wooden floors and smelt of paraffin, oiled string and wood.

I doubt that these places could have survived in an age when people do most of their shopping  in out of town  big stores and increasingly are captivated by the online alternative.

All of which I suppose leaves shops like our hardware place and Skillman & Sons to fall vacant and become home to gift shops, galleries and bars.

I wish it were otherwise but that seems to be how the last two decades have panned out.

If there is a consolation the bar economy has at least prevented shops from falling empty and leaving the high street no less than our village street a dismal and desolate place which brings me back to Woolwich High Street.

When I last passed many of the shops on the way up towards Powis Street had become fast food outlets.

Such I suppose is the onward march of retailing history.

Picture; Woolwich High Street, 1977, from the collection of Jean Gammons